Tips for Revising

First Drafts

After you have written your first draft, you will need to revise it. Read your draft carefully to make sure that it is well organized.

Remember, an essay is a group of related paragraphs about one main idea. The introduction states the main idea. The body paragraphs contain the subordinate ideas that support the main idea. The conclusion restates the main idea and indicates the end.

Essay

Introduction

main idea

Body

supporting idea supporting idea supporting idea

Conclusion

main idea, the end

If ideas don't flow in a logical sequence from paragraph to paragraph, move the paragraphs around until your main points fall into a clear pattern. For example, you may want to organize your ideas chronologically, according to how things happened from start to finish in time, or you may want to talk about your ideas in order of their importance.

Of course, you should organize your ideas in an outline long before you sit down to write. If you need to, you can change your outline as you write your essay.

Just as an essay is made up of related paragraphs that develop a central point, a paragraph is made up of related sentences that develop a central point. If a sentence in a paragraph does not provide evidence for the main idea of the paragraph, delete it, rewrite it, or move it to another paragraph.

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